I had a terrible ambulette experience. I didn’t have my usual driver today and I had different drivers going to and from school.  The morning driver was alright, but I had difficulty with the afternoon driver.  I was basically forced to sit in my wheelchair, which I don’t usually do. The driver said I couldn’t sit in the seat like I usually do. He insisted that it was mandatory that I do so and my aide and I argued the point, but I sat there anyway because the bench was too close to the driver’s seat.

That, to me, was abuse and neglect.  First off, the company knows that I sit in the seat, not in my wheelchair and secondly, the dispatcher should have informed this driver about this accommodation.  I get it’s for safety reasons and I respect the idea of safety, but when I tell someone that I usually sit in the seat, it must be alright.  I can’t stand when someone doesn’t follow directions.  Hopefully, things will be back to normal next week.

Sunday night, I found out who took my ex.  I was envious and tried to fight it.  It didn’t work.  I text message the guy and I argued it with him.  I asked him, “Why not me?” and his response was “My friends don’t like you”.  He also accused me of going after his friends, which I wasn’t.

Why should it matter who likes the person you are dating?  Seriously, why is it important that your friends like your significant other?  It’s not, I’ll be honest with you.  I was, and still am, outraged.  First off, his friends do like me and second, he’s got his head screwed-up.  I’m on good terms with several of his friends.  It’ll take me awhile to get over his arrogance, but I will do it.  No guy should date anybody and require his friends to like her.  All that should matter is the love that the couple has for each other.

Today my favorite motivational speaker, Joel Osteen, was delivering sermon about a Due Season.  He said that 2015 was going to be a better year than last year.  One of the examples he gave was the newlyweds couple looking to buy a specific house on a covasack.  They went to see a house and it was exactly the model they were looking for.  There was only one problem; there was a list of people ahead of them looking to buy the same exact house and the contractor said that it would be a few years before it would be available.  He offered to put them on the list, but they said they’ll keep looking.  A few weeks later, the couple decided to go looking again at houses in the same area.  The contractor approaches them and said that people backed out of the deal-there was room for them to put an offer in on the house.  So they did and a few weeks later, they bought the house.

I believe that this year something good will come for us this year.  Last year, I lost my Grandfather and I didn’t do as well as I have been doing in school.  But this semester, I’m going to pull up my grades.  I think I found my textbooks in audio format.  I joined Learning Ally so hopefully that’ll help.  I’m constantly reviewing my notes.  So who knows what will come about this year.  Just think positive, everything will fall into place.

A friend of mine text messaged me today and she happened to hear about an emergency that I had at home.  She has cerebral palsy but is worse off then me.  She can’t walk, but she can talk.   She’s got other issues.  Today she’s asking me a good question: What do I do in an emergency if I can’t get to the phone?

Although I don’t have any experience with it, I firmly believe people in wheelchairs should have LifeAlert.  It’s meant for senior citizens but I feel that it should be available to people with disabilities as well.  I know I can’t talk, but the dispatcher could see my address and they could send help.  I also can dial 911, but not everybody can do that.  It’s a good question.  What do you think?

I have a problem this semester.  None of my textbooks come in text-to-speech formats.  The reading software that I use doesn’t have them and I can get e-books, but they don’t read to me.  So I have been reading everything with physical books and that’s been taking hours.  I have requested the books through Bookshare, but that could take months to fulfill.  I looked in iTunes and they have none of them.  I’m so torn apart.  Does anybody have any suggestions of what I could do or where I could try?

This week was my first week back at St. Thomas Acquinas College.  I saw old friends from last semester and met new people.  I had one professor from the fall and a new one.  My new professor is for Behavior Modification, which is my first counseling class.  I’m excited about that.  Group Dynamics also seems really fun.  It’s not a counseling course, but I never thought about how everybody is considered to be part of a group, whether or not they joined it voluntarily or were born into it.  Something as simple as a couple or a family unit is a group.  So now, already my perception of a group is wobbly.  Experimental Psychology doesn’t seem as bad as statistics, but I have could be underestimating the course.  I can’t tell right now.  Scientists Food for Thought is really going to test my time management skills.  The on-line course runs Monday to Friday so wish me luck.

Behavior Modification seems like a class that is more suitable for my destination.  It’s my first class towards counseling and so far I am really enjoying it.  My professor for the class is really calm and he teaches with a lot of interaction.  He has an easy-to-understand textbook.  I had trouble getting the digital textbooks for homework and I got them at the school store, but they don’t have the text-to-speech element.  Bear with me if I can’t blog every single day.  I’ll try to update you guys as often as possible.

Well, I go back for another semester at St. Thomas Acquinas College.  This semester I am taking Experimental Psychology, Group Dynamics, Behavior Modification and an on-line class called Scientists Food for Thought.  Scientists Food for Thought.  Scientists Food for Thought is one of my electives.  It’s a special topic in science that is taught occasionally and it explores the process of preparing food grown agriculturally and getting it ready for market.  I’m particularly looking forward to Behavior Modification because I am thinking about going for Christian psychology so I am going to try a class that teaches about applied behavioral analysis and classical conditioning.

I’m worried about Experimental Psychology because it sounds closely related to Statistics.  However, I have support to get through it so I think I will be fine.  I hope I do better than last semester.  I’m going to put my classes into the tutoring center again just in case I need help.  Everybody, no matter what their GPA is, should register for tutoring.  Everyone has their weak subjects and can use the help every now and then.  Even honor students need a shove sometimes.  I’m a good student, but that doesn’t stop me and from going for tutoring when I need it.  Tutoring can only enhance knowledge, not diminish it.  So sign up for tutoring and let yourself shine this semester.

So yesterday I almost got bucked off the horse that I ride.  There was an autistic girl playing with their wheelchair and she crashed against the wall.  That scared my horse and he reared up on his hind legs.  And all I could think to do was to hold on with my legs and I didn’t fall off.  He did it a second time and I did the same exact thing.  It was like a real rodeo.

My friend made that into an analogy because I was still dealing with a guy issue.  She said that boys are like rowdy horses that try to buck off their partners.  I had anger this morning and seeing this image helped me.  I never thought about comparing boys to horses.  Ok, maybe I am crazy, but that’s an accurate statement.  But my ride yesterday gave me a horseback riding experience that I never experienced before.  It’s always good to have new encounters.  Otherwise, life gets boring.

I don’t know what you would call it, but I am going to post one of my favorite writings.  It compares nature and fishing to following your dreams.  I hope you like it.

Fishing For The Future                  

I’m out today in the late morning sun where the heat surrounds me. Here, the blanket of green and brown patches goes into a blue pool full of different kinds of fish. There is nothing on the land but my rod and I. The water shimmers in the sunlight. No clouds appear in the light. I sit in my chair, waiting and waiting for a bite. The trees stand in tranquility and there is no breeze. It’s very hot and humid. The warmth makes the valley sizzle.

Suddenly, the breeze picks up. Something gets hooked on my line. I reel it in to find out it was a young sunfish. I look at it, and then put him back. I watch him as he swims into the water’s depth. A soul like his has yet to see many more moons and should see them all. He shouldn’t worry about my rod; it’s just another problem for him. He should swim away from it just like I swim away from mine. He’ll get caught one day and eaten or maybe not. The questions of the future remain unanswered. Just as I let him go, the refreshing breeze dies down.

Minutes pass into the hours of the early dusk. No fish bite. They all are going about their merry ways. Reminds me of how I set goals for my future. Suddenly, I see a big grizzly bear. He wades down into the rushing waters of the river as if he is waiting for something. Then, right before my eyes, he grabs a salmon. As he grabs his food, the old wind picks up. It lingers in the air while the bear remains at the riverbank for a second and then just as the bear disappears from sight, it dies down.

I reel in my line. Nothing. No fish on it. I cast it back out to try for some bass or trout. I look up at the yellow ball of fire. Goodness gracious! It’s sinking into the west! It’s getting late now. The sky burns up in a fireball; beautiful sight. But I still wait for a bite. A crescent moon appears in the night. It is a beauteous site up yonder. The stars twinkle as well. The light from the moon reflects upon the water. I can see my line floating in the cold all by itself in the moonlight.

A sudden summer breeze comes; I watch the ripples upon the water shimmering in the night; my rod in my hand. How peaceful they are! I start staring so hard that my eyes start to close. Everything becomes blurry for a second and then pitch black before me like I became blind. Before I know it, I feel my rod pulling me. I reel it in and there is a bass hooked onto my line. He’s the biggest bass I’ve ever seen! It took some pulling and reeling to get him in, but I eventually got him in.

I bring him onto the land, onto a rolling hill. A strong wind picks up and blows for awhile. As soon as it dies down, I grab my lantern and head off into the dark, searching for stones and sticks. I gather some for a fire and then I get my frying pan along with my blue fleece sweatshirt. That chilly wind stopped, but coldness still lingers in the air. I make myself a campfire and pull up a log. I put the bass in the pan so that it can cook.

Time passes. A full moon shines brightly. The bass finally finishes cooking. I take it out of the pan. I get my fork and plate and I start tearing into my dinner. How tender the meat is! It’s very good. The cold, old wind picks up. The fish’s journey may have ended, but my wind still blows.

Last night, my grandmother’s friend’s daughter was over.  She is a professor at a local college and she teaches people who want to be teachers.  She’s also a writer.  I asked her questions about choosing a career and publishing a book.  I am going to have to start looking around for writers’ conferences, maybe make a fan page on Facebook.  I just hope people notice it.  I guess that will happen overtime.

I hope to improve this website by allowing readers to subscribe to my blog.  That might take awhile, but that’s my eventual goal.  I also will look into publishing conferences.  I hope this is the start of a really good career for me aside from what else I decide to do.  My grandfather was always right; writing is my future and it seems to be coming together.